Heroes of the Storm glossary

Heroes of the Storm is not categorized as a MOBA by its creators, but as a Hero Brawler, and there are definitely big differences between Heroes and other popular MOBAs. Nonetheless, a lot of the players you're going to be seeing in-game will have played MOBAs before, and thanks to the similarities to MOBA play, you're going to be seeing a lot of MOBA jargon. And you might not understand it all, but we're here to help. We're not going to go into every individual phrase that might ever be uttered, but we're going to spell out some of the more common ones.

Let us know if there are other things you've heard that you haven't understood, and hit the break for the Glossary!

AD

Attack Damage. Term for the damage done by the Hero's basic attacks, and the stat that increases it. Some heroes also have special abilities which are increased by attack damage.

AP

Ability Power. Term for the damage done by the Hero's special abilities, and the stat that increases it.

Assassin

Hero type. Deals a lot of damage, but can't take much without dying.

B

Returning to base, using a hearthstone. "I'm B" or "B"

bait

Trick an enemy hero into over-extending, usually making themselves vulnerable to your allies or structures.

Bot

Used to refer to the bottom-most lane on the map. Also occasionally a term for AI heroes.

Bruiser

Hero type term from other MOBAs, a melee hero who can take damage and exercise good CC or damage.

Care

Take care, be careful. Often used to suggest caution as an enemy player is missing/MIA.

Carry

Hero type term from other MOBAs. From a Heroes perspective, basically an assassin. Implies they may need assistance from a support or other hero to be at their most effective.

CC

Crowd control. Incapacitating, stunning or slowing effects.

Creeps

Term for what Heroes of the Storm calls Minions -- the little NPCs that appear in lanes.

D, Def

Defend

DK

Occasionally used as an abbreviation for Dragon Knight. Not to be confused with Arthas, the Death Knight hero.

Doubloons

Collected on Blackheart's Bay to hand in to the pirate in the center of the map, by killing NPC camps and destroying chests. Also sometimes referred to as Gold.

E

Similar to the other letter-bound abilites. People will often refer to the one bound to E by default as "your E" rather than its ability name.